CSA Report:  Blooming Glen Farm

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Another Long Island Cheese pumpkin this week—how fun!  Fennel, leeks and bok choy are back, and the cauliflower and radicchio are new.  It was rainy and chilly, so no pick-your-owns at Blooming Glen Farm this week, but, as you can see, we still made our like bandits

CSA Report:  Blooming Glen Farm

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names/quantities of share.)

I can’t believe it’s the third week of October and we’re still picking up such a beautiful share from Blooming Glen Farm.  There are four kinds of greens (lettuce, kale, collards, arugula), two types of radishes (French breakfast and watermelon), red and yellow onions—and we’re still harvesting pick-your-own herbs!  As a testament to the bounty, family dinner (for ten) at my house this Sunday was made almost entirely of the farm’s produce:  Root Vegetable and Barley Soup (with celeriac, turnips, carrots, potatoes, onion and garlic), and Curry Butternut Squash Soup.  We served ten people and still had leftovers for lunch.  With this much variety still coming in, it’s hard to believe that in just a couple weeks, our visits to the farm will be over for the season.

CA Report:  Blooming Glen Farm

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names/quantities of share.)

I’m so grateful for the continued variety Blooming Glen Farm is still able to offer this time of year.  Sweet squash and potatoes, spicy arugula and radishes, crunchy cabbage and rutabaga and, of course, savory herbs and onions.  Though I must admit, my heart broke just a little bit when I didn’t see the vibrant Swiss chard, kale and collards waiting for me this week.  Sniff, sniff.  My breakfasts just won’t be the same!

CSA Report: Lancaster Farm Fresh

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The fall crops are in - and boy are they full of greens! I’m using the peppers, kale, and onions tonight in a chili casserole, and will use the lettuce and radishes in a salad to accompany it! I’m also so excited about squash! I can’t wait to make soups. Alongside my regular vegetable share, I also ordered some garlic and chive cheddar, a dozen eggs, yogurt and a gallon of cider with has plans to heat itself up and marry some whiskey.

1 green kabocha squash – certified organic – Orchard View Organics

4 yellow storage onions – transitional – Green Acres Organics

1 bunch sparkler radishes – certified organic – Maple Lawn Farm

1 Italian eggplant – certified organic – Farmdale Organics

1 head broccoli – certified organic – Pleasant Valley Organics

2 yellow bell peppers – certified organic – Bellview Organics

1 bunch green kale – certified organic – Goshen View Organics

1 bunch tatsoi (Vitamin Green) – certified organic – Hillside Organics

1 bag sylvetta arugula – certified organic – Farmdale Organics - .5 lbs

1 head green leaf lettuce – certified organic – Misty Meadow Farm

CSA Report:  Blooming Glen Farm

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names/quantities of share.)

Well look at that—a Long Island Cheese Pumpkin.  Those farmers at Blooming Glen Farm seem to always have a surprise for us!  I have no idea what te future has in store for that pumpkin, but it’ll have to wait, as my kitchen is chock-full of wonderful, vitamin-rich, hearty and delicious root vegetables right now.  Here’s my go-to recipe for celeriac, rutabaga, carrots, parsnips, etc.:

Root Stew with Barley

3 tbs olive oil
2 onions, chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup pearled barley
4 cups vegetable stock
4 - 6 cups of scrubbed, but unpeeled* diced root veggies
1/2 - 1 cup of chopped fresh herbs (dill works well, but any one or two will work)

*Except the celeriac. Go ahead and peel those gnarly, dirty bad boys. Most of the nutrients in root vegetables live close to the surface; by peeling them you’ll inadvertently loose the good stuff.

Heat the oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until softened (about five minutes). Add the garlic and saute for about 30 seconds. Stir in barley and vegetable stock. Bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to low, skim off any froth, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add root veggies.  Cover and simmer 20 to 25 minutes more, or until barley and vegetables are tender. Just before serving, stir in herbs. Salt and pepper to taste

.

So delicious and easy!

CSA Report:  Blooming Glen Farm

Thursday, October 01, 2009

(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names/quantities of share.)

The Blooming Glen farmers surprised us with raspberries this week!  The crop is not yet mature enough to provide for CSA members, but they opened the bushes for gleaning.  I happily braved the wind and mud for a healthy handful of these sweet red berries.  Also new this week were sweet potatoes and celeriac, and the return of lettuce and cabbage. 

Generally, I’ve shied away from tomatillos.  They look neat, but other than salsa, I never knew what to do with them.  However, since trying the Tomatillo Soup with White Beans and Jalapeño recipe over the weekend, I was more than happy to take more tomatillos and hot peppers this week.  The soup is absolutely fantastic—enough so that I plan to put some up for the Winter months.

CSA Report:  Blooming Glen Farm

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names/quantities of share.)

I’ve been so happy to find my favorite salad green, arugula, at Blooming Glen Farm over the past two weeks.  We’re still picking herbs and flowers, and radishes made a reappearance this week.

That beautiful Cinderella squash and those tomatillos are going to become soups for a family dinner this Sunday night.

Cinderella Pumpkin Soup with Apples and Sage Oil
(From Whole Food Whole Family)
Ingredients
1 leek, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
about 1/3 of a large Cinderella pumpkin (or other variety), peeled and diced
4 apples, preferably Winesap or another sweet-tart variety, diced
enough vegetable broth or water to barely cover
2 T. maple syrup
1 T. cumin
2 t. coriander
1 t. chili powder
1/2 t. crushed red pepper
1/4 c. chives, minced for garnish
Sage oil:
3 T. olive oil
large handful of sage leaves, stripped from the stem

Directions
1. Heat 1 T. oil in a soup pot and add the leek and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes, until softened, stirring regularly.
2. Add the squash and apples. Add broth to within an inch of the squash and apples. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the squash is very soft.
3. Stir in the spices and maple syrup and turn off the heat under the soup.
4. Heat the oil at a low temperature in a small pan. Add the sage leaves and infuse them for about 1 minute, until the have released their flavor and scent into the oil. Turn off the heat and allow the sage to continue infusing while the rest of the soup is prepared.
5. Transfer the soup in batches to a blender and process until smooth.
6. Return the soup to the pot and season to taste with salt and pepper.
7. Strain out the leaves from the oil.
8. Serve the soup drizzled with sage oil and sprinkled with chives.

Tomatillo Soup
(From Vegan Diva)
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 large onion, sliced thin
4 jalapeno peppers, sliced in thin rounds (use less for a milder soup)
2 heaping teaspoons ground cumin
1 heaping teaspoon ground coriander
Green Tabasco Sauce to taste
1 pound tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cans chopped green chiles, drained
1 cup water
2 15-oz. cans Cannelli Beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions
1. Heat oil over medium heat in a 10-inch skillet. Add garlic, onion, jalapenos, cumin, and coriander. Cook, stirring often until onions are lightly golden, about 7 – 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in 5- to 6-quart pot, combine tomatillos, sea salt, sugar, vegetable broth, green chilies, Green Tabasco sauce, and water. Heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low. Stir in the onion mixture and cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Stir in beans and cilantro until beans are heated through.

Served with fresh bread from our local bakery, Bakers on Broad, and a green salad, I think our taste buds and belies will be satisfied!

CSA Report:  Blooming Glen Farm

Thursday, September 17, 2009

(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names/quantities of share.)

The Blooming Glen Farm farmers gifted us with green tomatoes, tomatillos, arugula and butternut squash this week.  More potatoes, onions, peppers, garlic and greens were also waiting for us.  The weather may be cooling down, but we still had fresh herbs to pick, and even managed to put together a wild flower bouquet.

I’m excited to make a batch of Nanny’s (our farmer Tricia’s grandmother) green tomato relish with those tomatoes.  I’ve used this recipe for the last couple years and just love it. The quantities are to produce a big batch for canning (about 10 to 12 pint jars), so adjust as needed.

Nanny’s Green Tomato Relish

Put through chopper (or chop by hand), and drain:
1 peck green tomatoes (roughly 20apple size)
6 large onions
6 green peppers
6 red peppers

Make syrup:
3/4 pint sugar
2 pints vinegar
1 T whole cloves, in cloth or tea ball
1 stick cinnamon
Boil about 20 minutes, until sugar is dissolved, remove cinnamon stick and cloves.

In a big pot, pour syrup over over relish and add:
1 T Salt
1 T celery seed
1 T mustard seed
Boil 15 minutes, then process in boiling water canner for 15 minutes.

It’s always a treat to open a can of this sweet, crunchy and colorful relish in the dark days of winter!

CSA Report: Blooming Glen Farm

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

It’s Winter squash season at Blooming Glen Farm—how lovely!  Winter squash is one of my very favorite kitchen staples, due to its versatility and the fact that each set of taste buds in the house enjoys the flavor.  The recipe below utilizes not only the season’s squash, but also many of the other inclusions of this week’s share:  onions, garlic, carrot, eggplant, pepper and oregano.  Many of us most likely still have a zucchini and tomato or two rolling around the kitchen

Moroccan Butternut Stew
From Grant Family Farms

1/3 cup olive oil
2 diced onions
2 minced garlic cloves
1 tbsp ground cumin
1tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp cayenne
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tbsp paprika
2 sliced carrots
1 cubed butternut
1 cubed eggplant
1 sliced green pepper
3 sliced zucchini
2 chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 cups cooked garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
pinch saffron
1/2 cup raisins or currants
fresh oregano (for garnish)

In a stew pot, heat olive oil and sauté diced onions, minced garlic cloves, ground cumin, turmeric, cayenne,cinnamon and tablespoon paprika. Add, in order, after each ingredient has begun to soften -carrots, butternut, eggplant, green pepper, zucchini and tomatoes. Stir garbanzo beans, saffron and currants/raisins. Simmer until all veggies are tender. If dry, add stock or tomato juice. Garnish with fresh oregano. Serves 4

The recipe calls for butternut, but any Winter squash can be substituted.  For the more delicate palette, the spiciness of this recipe is easily calmed by lessening the cayenne, substituting with a less hot spice or simply removing it completely. 

CSA Report: Blooming Glen Farm

Thursday, September 03, 2009

What a gorgeous day at Blooming Glen Farm!  New this week were leeks, sunshine squash and fennel, and I was happy to see that the garlic, onions and peppers are still coming.

Once a week at my job, a staff member takes a turn preparing lunch for the rest of the crew.  It’s a bit of a tradition, to the point that it has a specific name: Fun Lunch®.  And although the Registered Trademark isn’t actually registered, we’re all quite serious about it.  This week was my turn, and I couldn’t help but smile when, as preparing the feast, I realized that much of the meal was of Blooming Glen stock.  I served a tomato pie extravaganza featuring seven pies.  I doctored up Muir Glen tomato sauce with chopped onions, kale, and fresh basil, spices and garlic, and let it sit overnight. Today I reheated then slathered it on Rustic Crust pizza crusts (Tuscan 6-grain, if you care):

Tomato Pie EXTRAVAGANZA!
1. corn, orange tangy cherry tomato, shallot
2. tomato, smoked tempeh, chopped kale… Read More
3. mushroom
4. pepper, onion, tempeh sausage
5. zucchini,eggplant
6. eggplant, zucchini, onion
7. pepper, onion, tempeh sausage, smoked tempeh, tomato, cherry tomato

They were set on the table with a fresh green salad of Romaine lettuce, purple, green and red peppers, corn, Summer squash and citrus-y, mini edible marigolds.  Dessert was vanilla soy ice cream, topped with fresh, diced peaches, almond slices and Peace Valley Lavender Farm honey.

All told, what veggies, fruit and herbs were not from Blooming Glen, were procured from a local market (Bolton’s in Silverdale) and my own garden. 

And it strikes me now how effortless eating local has become.  Those small baby steps I began taking just a few years ago, by planting a garden and joining a CSA, have become an every day way of life. 

This week, when considering what I would serve my coworkers, rather than scoping out cookbooks, I simply turned to my kitchen and let its contents lead the way.  I say this now because, when I first became interested in “eating local,” it seemed such a monumental task.  Really, it’s been about very small changes; crowding out the un-local with the local, easing up on the 100%-or-nothing attitude (hence, then canned tomato sauce and packaged pizza crusts), until eventually… there seemed to be no other Fun Lunch® possibility than one completely infused with the tasty vegetables and fruits of my neighbors. 

I still rely on on those baby steps and hope others find the notion of “a little is better than none” a bit encouraging, too.   Bon appétit!

CSA Report:  Blooming Glen Farm

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

What a difference a week makes.  We were much more “with it” at the Blooming Glen Farm pick up—I’m sure the sunshine had something to do with it!

This week, the farmers opened up the cherry tomato crops for gleaning (an ancient practice of collecting leftover crops from fields after they have been harvested), we had kale waiting for us after a several-weeks-long hiatus, herbs and flowers were still plentiful, and the potatoes were super bright and big. 

Most exciting and drool-causing though, were the scores of differently shaped, colored and sized red, yellow and heirloom tomatoes from which we had to choose.  Picking out the ones to take home was difficult, although reaching the 3 1/2-pound limit was quite easy and happened rather quickly!  Our favorite way to eat these scrumptious nightshades is simply, of course:  sliced, very lightly salted and with fresh, chopped basil leaves, makes for a perfect breakfast, lunch or dinner side. 

Haven’t yet had the pleasure of a just-picked heirloom tomato?  Not even sure what all the heirloom tomato hub-bub is about?  Then be sure to check out these links:

HeirloomTomatoes.net:  http://www.heirloomtomatoes.net/
Heirloom tomatoes on the Wiki:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heirloom_tomatoes
Take your pick: It’s tomato time!: http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/aug/26/take-your-pick/

Or better yet, stop by your local market for some taste testing of your very own!

CSA Report: Lancaster Farm Fresh

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

More delicious tomatoes this week, and big old watermelon. After my first experience making tomatillo salsa a few weeks ago, I’m eager to use these little green guys in new recipes. And we got the most delicious little yellow sweet peppers. I’m also excited for a new batch! Lancaster Farm Fresh lets me order dairy and organic eggs, but also some produce by bulk. I also ordered 20 pounds of roma tomatoes this week to can tomato sauce.

1 watermelon (mixed varieties)  – certified organic – Misty Meadow Acres
6 ears bi-color sweet corn – certified organic – Maple Arch Organics
1 sweet onion – transitional – Taste of Nature Farm
1 bag Yukon gold potatoes – certified organic – Hillside Organics
1 bag tomatillos – certified organic – Millwood Springs /Organic Willow Acres
1 box cherry tomatoes – certified organic – Farmdale Organics – 1 quart
8 sweet yummy peppers – certified organic – Farmdale Organics
1 red bell pepper – certified organic – Maple Arch Organics
1 red bell pepper – certified organic – Meadow Valley Organics
8 Roma tomatoes – certified organic – Millwood Springs Farm
4 red and yellow slicing tomatoes – certified organic – Green Valley Organics

With all of our tomatoes and peppers (and some leftover mushrooms from last weekends BBQ, I made spicy tomato tempeh from Simply in Season. I overcooked it just a bit (while balancing two soup pots of cooking tomato sauce on the stove) but it was still delicious, and just the right amount of spicy with the addition of a habenero.

CSA Report: Red Earth Farm

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Before I go to pick up this week’s share I thought I should post my picture from last week.

1 bunch of carrots with tops, a bag of beets, a bag of perpetual spinach, three green peppers, three slicing tomatoes, and a bag of white potatoes. From the buying club there’s a block of Oak Shade Jack Cheese and a pound of raw honey and last week was an egg and fruit share week. The fruit was a variety of yellow and white peaches.

Two summers ago I was not impressed by the fruit share. It seemed like I was paying too much for not enough fruit and ended up buying additional fruit through the buying club each week it was available. Last year I decided not to purchase a fruit share, but there wasn’t any fruit available from the buying club which meant an additional weekly trip to buy fruit from the farmer’s market. This year I decided to give the fruit share another go. I’m sorry to say I’m disappointed again. The quality of the fruit is fine, but there’s not a lot of it for the price per week. None of the peaches last week were sweet enough for eating, not even the fully ripe ones. I don’t mind that some of the fruit, like sour cherries, is best for cooking, not eating. But with two small kids I like to have fruit that they can eat right away. We’ve had better luck with the overgrown blackberry bush down the street and the fruit from the local supermarket than with the fruit from the CSA. I hope I feel better about the fruit in the fall when apples, which store well and travel well, are abundant, but I will not be getting a fruit share again. The good news is that we have no complaints about the vegetables.

CSA Report:  Blooming Glen Farm

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

This week at Blooming Glen Farm, we were a little… off.  The weather was uncooperative during pick up with lots of wild winds and heavy rain, which means the only pick-your-owns we were able to get to were the cherry tomatoes.  And the pick up partners weren’t in sync, so there’s one head of lettuce too many.  Also, I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure there’s too much okra up there.

Why don’t we do this:  Go ahead and replace that extra lettuce and okra with a pretty and colorful image of edible flowers, assorted herbs, and a fresh bouquet of flowers, ok?  And then, we’ll do better next week.  Promise

CSA Report - Lancaster Farm Fresh

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

I’m in love with Lancaster Farm Fresh. This week - tomatoes! And more beautiful tomatoes! And lots of other wonderful things, too.

1 Athena cantaloupe – transitional – Green Acres
1 bunch white beets – certified organic – Autumn Blend
1 bag shallot/onion mix – certified organic – Busy Bee Acres – 1 lb
1 bitter melon – certified organic – Autumn Blend Organics
3 green bell peppers – certified organic – Meadow Valley/Bellview Organics
3 jalapeno peppers – certified organic – Millwood Springs
2 boxes cherry tomatoes – organically grown – Farmdale Organics/White Swan Acres
4 Roma tomatoes – certified organic – Millwood Springs Farm
8 red and yellow slicing tomatoes – certified organic – Green Valley Organics
1 bunch dandelion greens – certified organic – Hillside Organics

Even though it was terribly hot, the house got excited about using some of last weeks leftover produce, and some of this week’s beautiful new tomatoes. My roommate made a simple tomato pie with fresh tomatoes, grilled eggplant, onion, and olive oil. I made a squash chowder based on the recipe for zucchini chowder from Simply in Season. I lightened it up a bit and used all kinds of lovely squash, corn, tomatoes, and onions.